PAC 12 Offseason Thread

[847badgerfan]

Larry Scott spends Vegas in a $7500/night ARIA suite

The ADs have been bellyaching for years about “limo Larry’s” expenses. The conference is lagging behind its Power Five Conference peers when it comes to financial distributions to members. The men and women responsible for budgeting for athletics on their own campuses would like to examine the financials.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2019/03/canzano-the-view-from-the-pac-12-conferences-imperial-palace-lacks-visibility.html

I liked one of the comments to the article best:


Wouldn't it be ironic if Scott's luxury suite only came with DirecTV?

[FearlessF]

no wonder Delaney is retiring

doesn't get equal compensation with a dope like Larry

[CatsbyAZ]

Worthwhile perspective on the State Of College Football in LA, from ESPN for anyone interested:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/26237490/usc-ucla-state-college-football-los-angeles%3fplatform=amp

As I’ve said in other threads, Chip Kelly’s taking the reigns at UCLA is going as poorly as possible.

And as for SC, in additions to the Medical school scandal and the underachieving football program, add the FBI blowing the lid off the national fraud scheme to enroll their kids in prime universities. I never thought of USC as elite enough to risk $50K in fraud and faked SAT scores to get your kid into. But evidently Lori Laughlin thought it was worth the risk if it widened her daughter’s options beyond Arizona State, writing as much in an email presented as evidence in the scheme: “We just met with our older daughter’s college counselor this AM. I’d like to maybe sit with you after your session with the girls as I have some concerns and want to fully understand the game plan and make sure we have a roadmap for success as it relates to our daughter and getting her into a school other than ASU!”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/3141574002

[Cincydawg]

Six Pac teams have already made ELA's rankings.  That isn't a good showing, needless to say.  What happened out there?  Lack of interest?  Money?  Talent?

Is this just a down phase or is it something of a more lasting nature?

[CWSooner]

Pac 12 “in shambles,” so says 538:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-pac-12-is-in-shambles/

“As it currently stands, the conference would be lucky to receive two bids to the tournament, with the Huskies projected to be a No. 9 seed and Arizona State possibly squeaking in as a 12 seed. It’s been a quarter-century since a major conference produced a one-bid campaign.”

“If recent history serves, next month’s tournament will reinforce what many already know: The Pac-12, which hasn’t won a national title since Arizona cut down the nets in 1997, has fallen off considerably in terms of prestige.”

“The Pac-12 is also struggling in college football. Over the past two seasons, the conference is a combined 4-12 in bowl games, with three wins coming by a combined 4 points.”

“Oregon State has arguably been the worst Power Five football team for two consecutive years, and programs like Oregon, Stanford and USC, which traditionally have been competitive on a national level, have fallen off considerably. Washington’s good-but-not-good-enough seasonal cadence seems to have run its course, too.”

I don't know how far "tradition" goes back, but that seems like a bit of an overstatement on Oregon.  Oregon was not competitive on the national level until the 2000 season, unless you go back to the 1910s.

[Cincydawg]

We all appreciate how conferences go through phases, but is this one more of a terminal descent?

The SEC seemed down - to me - for a couple of years, but shows some signs of being back.

The ACC needs a second team of some note from somewhere.  Miami?  FSU?  VT?  

[betarhoalphadelta]

We all appreciate how conferences go through phases, but is this one more of a terminal descent?

Maybe, but I think it's premature to call the time of death already. 
California is still a big state of 40M people. It's a very fertile recruiting ground. USC and UCLA can both be considered sleeping giants (although UCLA is more of a basketball school, they do have history on the gridiron), and Stanford/Cal are probably sleeping ogres... Oregon and Washington have a lot of population as well and if they can lock down their own state recruiting-wise, can at least be pretty darn good.
It was just 10 years ago that USC, Stanford, Oregon, and UCLA were all pretty good. Problem is that coaching turnover put all of them into bad paths at the same time, and the only really elite coach the conference has today might just be the one who was at Boise State 10 years ago and at Washington now [hence why they're the top of the conference right now]. 
I just don't see how this is some terminal decline unless it's a matter of the popularity of football waning and left-coasters being on the leading edge of that wane. If so, that affects all of us as fans. But if not, I'd say it's just a matter of time before the right coaches land at a few of these schools and they return to prominence. 

[Cincydawg]

I agree with your analysis, not that it matters.  I'd like to see the Pac have 2-3 teams of note each year, at least.  It's good for the sport.

Colorado is still around are they not?  

[betarhoalphadelta]

I agree with your analysis, not that it matters.  I'd like to see the Pac have 2-3 teams of note each year, at least.  It's good for the sport.

Colorado is still around are they not?  

Yes, but Colorado football has been unremarkable for a while. I left them, Utah,  and the AZ schools out if it, just as I left out OrSU and Wazzu. 

[fezzador]

Off-topic, but what’s with Washington and quarterbacks named Jacob or Jake? Jacob Fromm is transferring in, plus they have 3 more QBs named Jake or Jacob already.  Not to mention they recently had Jake Locker and Jake Browning.

[Cincydawg]

Jacob Eason, not Jake Fromm ... State Farm.

[CatsbyAZ]

Latest round of Michael Avennati's attention-whoring involves tweeting Pac 12 dirt:

"Ask DeAndre Ayton and Nike about the cash payments to his mother and others. Nike’s attempt at diversion and cover-up will fail miserably once prosecutors realize they have been played by Nike and their lawyers at Boies. This reaches the highest levels of Nike."

&

"Bol Bol and his handlers also received large sums from Nike. The receipts are clear as day. A lot of people at Nike will have to account for their criminal conduct, starting with Carlton DeBose & moving higher up. The diversion charade they orchestrated against me will be exposed"

Ayton and Bol Bol signed with Arizona and Oregon respectively, for a fee.

Granted Washington and Oregon can look back on strong seasons, but it's pretty sad that Pac 12 Basketball is as unremarkable as it is even after buying the best prospects.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Ayton and Bol Bol signed with Arizona and Oregon respectively, for a fee.

Granted Washington and Oregon can look back on strong seasons, but it's pretty sad that Pac 12 Basketball is as unremarkable as it is even after buying the best prospects.

Francis Okoro, a forward/center who is a freshman at Oregon, is from Normal, IL. He reportedly valued education very highly during his recruitment, and was planning to study computer science. He was considered highly in play for both the Illini and the Boilermakers [two schools with very highly respected CS programs, Illini ranked #5 and Purdue #20 according to US News]. Both schools were recruiting him HARD.
Then he ended up at Oregon, ranked #64 in CS, and ranked well below Illinois and Purdue in the national university rankings. And he walked into a situation where there was a log-jam of players at the 4 and 5.
Seems he might have valued something a little more than education...

[CatsbyAZ]

Little late to post, but with college basketball clearly in the rear view mirror, the tournament went better than expected for the PAC 12, with three teams qualifying and all winning a game - Washington, Oregon, and Arizona St.